Harry Potter and the Levitating Ch'iyun, Part One
by infinitykat
Summary: As in many a Harry Potter fan fiction, a new girl comes to Hogwarts and Ron is crushing badly. But she definitely isn't blonde. Sixth year. HHr ship. First two chapters revised and morphed into one. Chapter Five is up! 6.13.05
1. Default Chapter

**Harry Potter and the Levitating Ch'iyun **

By infinitykat 

"So hear me now   
I'll scream out loud   
Can't figure out how you   
Entered into my world and I fall down..   
And you crash into me." – Michelle Branch "Fall" 

**A/N: Believe it or not, the concept for this story came to me in a dream. Seriously. Anywho, I haven't written anything Harry Potter for a long time, so bear with me. While you're at it, if you like Star Wars romances, check me out. Also, if you're wondering, (and don't speak Chinese) "Ch'iyun" means harmony that speaks from the heart to the heart of the listener. **

Disclaimer: You know the deal. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. (God bless her!) Also, I used an excerpt from book six from J.K.'s site- it's in italics. I interpreted it the way I wanted to. That's what fan fiction is all about, right? 

"Gotta be careful now. That ruddy house elf…" Mad-Eye Moody muttered more to himself than anyone else in the traveling party. Ron rolled his eyes, wondering if the madness would ever end. 

He, Ginny, and Hermione were being escorted to the train that would take them to their sixth year at Hogwarts and Moody had taken every alleyway and roundabout route he could find in London. Ron was anxious, as was Hermione of course, to see his best friend Harry Potter, who had to stay at his aunt and uncle's for the summer to remain safe (Dumbledore's orders). He had made it to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for his birthday, but the escape was bittersweet. 

Since Harry's godfather's death in June, the Black family house elf, Kreacher, had taken the opportunity to spill all of the Order's secrets and their hideout was ruined. Everyone almost didn't escape the Death Eaters sent to crash Harry's very first birthday party, and Harry had to flee to the safety of the large square house on Privet Drive and obviously wasn't very happy about it. Ron was bracing himself for another explosion similar to that which Harry had during their first visit to Grimmauld Place. 

Finally, Moody, Tonks, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione arrived at the barrier between gates nine and ten. Tonks began chattering noiselessly to a listening Hermione and Ginny and they slipped seamlessly through the magical wall. Moody had a different method. He roughly thrust Ron's trunk into its owner's abdomen and similarly shoved him through the barrier, following close behind. 

So, Ron's first glimpse of the Hogwarts Express was from the ground until his new dress robes and a twittering Pigwidgeon obscured his vision. Grumbling vaguely about mad ex-Aurors and what he would do if he had the proper training, he got to his feet. 

"I missed you," Hermione was saying awkwardly to Harry. He looked slightly angry, but his aura was drenched with sadness. Harry attempted to give her a brusque look, failed, and instead said "hi" and gave her a hug. 

"Hey mate," Ron said, shaking his best friend's hand, "Did they treat you rotten?" Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned ironically. 

"I would have been highly disappointed and slightly suspicious if they hadn't," he replied. There was an awkward silence and the three looked over at the scarlet-red engine as the whistle blew for last-minute boarding. 

"I guess we'd better board," Hermione said, again slightly awkwardly. Ron noticed that she was acting a bit strangely in Harry's presence, an observation he didn't usually make, but it had struck him so powerfully in that moment. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears and began to drag her trunk onto the train. 

Because Harry, Hermione, and Ron had not tried to get on the train sooner, almost all of the compartments were filled. They walked straight to the back of the train, though, in hopes of finding their usual compartment empty. Unfortunately, a strange-looking girl was occupying their favorite traveling haunt reading a newspaper written in Chinese. Harry was about to move on to another compartment when Ron flung out an arm to stop him. Ron's ears had gone red and he had an odd look on his face. 

"This one's okay mate. Ask her if we can join her," Ron said strangely. 

"Wha?" Harry started to ask, but Hermione just rolled her eyes and reached around him to yank open the compartment door. 

"Mind if we join you?" she asked the girl. The girl looked up from her newspaper and smiled. 

"Oh sure, come on in," she said in a decidedly American accent. As the three friends entered the compartment, she silently surveyed each one in turn (Ron's ears turned a even more vibrant shade of magenta) and went back to her reading. 

"So," Hermione said once they were settled, "Are you…new?" 

"Yep," said the girl, looking up momentarily from her reading, "Just got transferred from Salem." Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly. 

"Really? Why did you transfer?" The girl shrugged, not looking up from her paper. 

"I dunno. The headmaster invited me, I think," she looked up with a slightly mischievous smile, "But my parents didn't want me to come." Hermione gave a little confused laugh. 

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said, holding out her hand. 

"Lizzy Aurore," the girl replied, shaking Hermione's hand. 

"Is that French?" Hermione asked cautiously. Lizzy nodded, tucking her long dark hair behind her ears. 

"Yeah. My parents left France for the U.S. because they hated their parents for some reason," Lizzy looked thoughtful for a moment, "They never told me why. It really is amazing that they even let me come here. But, your headmaster-" Lizzy searched the air above her head for the word. 

"Dumbledore," Hermione finished for her. 

"-Right, Dumbledore insisted," Lizzy said. 

"What year are you in?" Hermione said. Ron and Harry glanced at each other, wondering if they were ever going to be introduced. Lizzy look confused. 

"Year? Oh right- you mean grade…" Lizzy reached into her back pocket and brought out a crumpled piece of parchment and read it closely for a moment. "Sixth." 

"Great- us too," Harry put in. Hermione slapped her forehead. 

"Sorry, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Hermione said apologetically. 

"Nice to meet you both," Lizzy said, smiling. She didn't even double take at the sound of Harry's name. 

"Do you know house you're in?" Ron asked, finally finding his voice. Lizzy looked down at her paper again. She shook her head. 

"Doesn't say…oh!" Lizzy replied, and then ripped off a small note that was attached to the back of the larger paper. She thrust it towards Harry. "It's a note from Dumbledore," she explained, "We're supposed to meet him in his office after the feast." Harry took it and read it. 

"He didn't give me a note at all," Harry said irritably. Lizzy shrugged. 

"Maybe he knew we were going to meet before we got to school," she suggested. 

When Lizzy went back to her newspaper, the door to their compartment slid open boisterously. Malfoy stood in the doorway, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. 

"Oy, scar head, made a new friend?" Malfoy asked stupidly, eyeing the Chinese newspaper. 

"Bug off, Malfoy," Harry said coolly. His anger level had the tendency to flair immediately around Malfoy now that his father and the other Death Eaters were at large. Now wouldn't be the the time for confrontation, he knew. But, Lizzy looked up, saw Malfoy, and sat silently staring at him. He looked back at her for a moment, looking increasingly disturbed by her gaze. 

Malfoy collected himself enough to say, "Well, whoever you are, I see that you will be fitting in perfectly with this riffraff. I'm sure it's your goal to involve yourself with a lunatic, a Mudblood, and a beggar?" Lizzy smiled a little. 

"Buddha says, 'Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace,'" she said quietly. 

Malfoy scoffed but swept through the door, fleeing for the safety of his own compartment. Hermione jumped up and closed and locked the door behind him. 

Ron gazed at Lizzy in awe. "Whoa- you handled Malfoy like a pro! How'd you just make him leave like that?" Lizzy shrugged. 

"Zen power," she stated, and went back to her newspaper. Seeing that she wasn't looking, Ron messed up his hair to look as though he had just come off the quidditch pitch. 

"You don't need to do that to look cute, you know," Lizzy told him, not looking up from her paper and smiling slightly again. 

Ron never did it again. 

- 

Harry was soon unsure what to think of their new friend. On the train, she had seemed reserved, wise, aloof even. But now that they had arrived at Hogwarts, her personality had taken a drastic swerve to the talkative and what he imagined was American. The experience made him realize he had never met an American before in his life and had no idea what to expect. 

"So let me get this straight-" Lizzy said, putting her hands up to stop explanation, "The little first years get up in front of everyone and put on that old grimy hat and it tells them which house they're in? As in speaking?" 

"Yep," replied Harry. Lizzy made a face. 

"Do I have to put it on?" she asked, apparently appalled. Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. 

"You know, I don't think we've ever had a transfer student before, so…" Harry shook his head, "I don't know." They all looked up as Dumbledore stood and clap his hands together. 

"Welcome back friends. The sorting will begin now," he announced, and sat back down. 

"Wow," Lizzy whispered as the first years filed up the Great Hall, "He's really old. Evil?" 

"I had my doubts-" started Ron with a smirk. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"Definitely not," corrected Harry. He paused, suddenly fearful. "Do you know…about…the situation here?" Lizzy squinted at him and then comprehension dawned on her face. 

"Oh…you mean that evil lord guy that came back. Yeah, the wizard president in the states told the muggle president and put the country on level orange terrorist alert…or was it fuchsia?" Lizzy sighed. "It seems like they're always coming up with new colors. I can't keep up." Her three new friends tried to stifle a laugh. They didn't want to incur the wrath of the sorting hat, which was now singing. Harry sobered after a moment, reflecting on the state of affairs and immediately feeling much gloomier than he had a moment ago. Lizzy squinted up at Dumbledore. "Where have I seen him before?" she mumbled. 

As they watched, Ron kept sneaking glances at Lizzy, who was untangling a knot from the ends of her long ebony hair. Ron didn't know what it was about her, but he got an uncomfortable feeling every time Lizzy looked at him. Like his stomach was doing somersaults. It was completely different from the burning, appalling anger he felt whenever Hermione mentioned Viktor Krum. Now, with this experience, Ron realized he must just love Hermione like a sister. Anyway, at the moment, she was obviously fighting the urge to look at Harry. He was okay with that. He trusted Harry. Most of the time. 

In their short time together over the summer, something had changed between Harry and Hermione. She seemed to understand the painful memories the old Black manor brought to him and also seemed to be the only one in Harry's company that could make him smile. Some nights, they would talk exclusively to one another at dinner. One night, Hermione hugged Harry longer than the unspoken "friend" length and, according to Ginny, was blushing until she fell asleep. Harry seemed a lot better at hiding his emotions, but he barely got surly with Ron anymore. But, as both were inexperienced in successfully dating someone, Ron wondered if anything would actually happen… 

Ron was pulled suddenly from his thoughts with the thunderous burst of applause for the sorting hat's song. As the noise died down, McGonagall walked briskly center stage and unfurled her long parchment list. 

"Aurore, Lizzy," McGonagall called out. The first years looked around at each other. 

"Ah, shit…" Lizzy hissed. She stood up roughly, sending the bench she was sitting on backwards with a loud screech. Annoyance soon turned into nerves as she walked up the aisle to the old hat. "Excuse me, pardon me," Lizzy said down to the little first years as she muscled her way through the crowd, hoping not to step on one. 

"A little big for a first year, don't you think?" Malfoy muttered just a little loudly. Lizzy resisted the urge to show him a very rude hand gesture as she arrived in front of the sorting hat. She picked up the old hat by the very tip of its brim, sat down, and with a look of great apprehension, lightly placed it on top of her head. The moments of silence during the hat's decision-making felt like hours. 

Finally, the hat bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Back at the table, Ron let out a sigh of relief as everyone else exploded into applause. Lizzy carefully placed the sorting hat back on the stool and trotted back to her spot next to Hermione. Almost every teenage Gryffindor boy stood up eagerly to shake her hand. 

"Welcome!" 

"Well done!" 

"Call me!" 

"I must be the luckiest girl in the world," Lizzy proclaimed, laughing. She glanced at Ron who was gazing at her with a dreamlike expression. Ginny looked over at her brother and rolled her eyes, seeming disgusted. 

Finally, the sorting was finished with "Xavier, Ali." Dumbledore stood and the Great Hall went dead silent. Everyone was eager to hear what he had to say this year. 

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I can see the ravenous looks on your faces, so I shall save the speech for later. Tuck in!" 

As always, the golden plates that had been gleaming on the tables were abruptly covered in food. Lizzy's jaw dropped. 

"Whoa!" she said, looking thoroughly impressed, "Neat trick!" Ron smirked while Hermione scowled. 

"So it would seem," Hermione said tartly, "You know- someone had to slave over a hot oven for this-" Ron groaned. 

"Please don't start about spew, Hermione. I just started eating," he said with great weariness. Hermione sat glaring at him with her arms crossed, obviously refusing to eat the food she had put her on plate. Ron and Harry were both stuffing their faces, as was the custom. 

"Anyway," Lizzy began, anxious to change the subject, "what is _that_?" She pointed at one of the items on the table. Ron swallowed a large amount of food before answering. 

"It's steak and kidney pudding," he said, as if it was obvious, "You've never seen steak and kidney pudding?" 

"You guys eat pudding that's not for dessert? And it has kidney in it? That ain't right," Lizzy replied disgustedly. Ron looked worried. 

"You do know what chicken is, don't you?" he asked, pointing to the plate of barbeque drumsticks. 

"Of course I do," Lizzy replied, but she looked immensely relieved. 

About halfway through the meal (Hermione eventually given in to Ron and Lizzy's comedic taunting and had eaten her share of food), Harry looked up and saw someone standing up at the staff table that he hadn't noticed before. 

"Who's that?" he asked. Hermione, Lizzy, and Ron all looked up. 

"He must be our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher," Hermione replied immediately, turning to Lizzy, "We haven't had much luck with them. I hope he isn't as horrible as our last." They all resumed watching the man as he stood up and made his way over to Dumbledore. 

Unlike their first DADA Professor, Quirrel, the man was not young. _He Looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of gray in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp._ He placed a hand on Dumbledore's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Dumbledore smiled and shook the man's hand. The new teacher then limped slowly back to his seat and tucked in to some newly arrived chocolate pudding. 

"I wonder if he's exactly up for job," said Lizzy to the others, "All my teachers at Salem were much younger." The others shrugged and dug in to their own desserts. 

Eventually, a lull came to replace the noise in the Great Hall as everyone was completely full and beginning to feel sleepy. The food vanished from the china and they were sparkling once more. Dumbledore stood to make his annual speech. 

"We have a new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher this year: Professor Turnpike," Dumbledore began, and held a welcoming arm out to the new Professor. The school gave the man polite applause as he stood. 

Turnpike wore a large top hat on top his mass of graying frizzy orange hair. He pushed himself up with a little difficulty when standing. He nudged his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, tipped his hat to the students, and resumed his seat. 

"In writing this year's opening speech," Dumbledore continued, smiling, "I found that I was repeating myself from last year. So all I can say to all of you is to strive for excellence educationally and in your friendships. And I hope you all have pleasant dreams tonight." Dumbledore said this last sentence with the old twinkle back in his eye. Hermione gave Harry's hand a squeeze and blushed when she realized what she had done. There was a ruckus of scraping benches and chairs as the students got up and wandered out of the Great Hall. Halfway up the main staircase, Lizzy slapped her forehead. 

"I almost forgot," she said to Harry, "We're supposed to go talk to Dumbledore." Harry looked a little downcast and nodded. 

"Alright," said Hermione, "I'll wait up in the common room for you Lizzy. And the password is-" she looked around for sneak listeners, "Kawaii-ne. We went to a prefects meeting before the feast." Ron made a face. 

"I can't believe Ginny is prefect now," he said. Hermione rolled her eyes heavenward. 

"Right," said Harry, "See you later, then." Harry and Lizzy walked off from the crowd of students and took his "back way" to Dumbledore's office. 

"Hey Harry-" Lizzy began, after a prolonged silence. 

"Yeah?" he replied. 

"What's a prefect?" 

"It's a student that enforces rules and stuff. And is the first to know the password into our houses," Harry explained. 

"And Hermione and Ron are prefects? That's a little hard to believe on Ron's part." 

"Yeah, I guess. I kind of thought I was going to be one but…Dumbledore decided that I have enough things on my plate." Lizzy nodded, only half understanding. 

"And, I know the sorting hat explained about the houses, but how are the dormitories set up?" 

"They are separated by which house you're in. All of the houses are in completely different parts of the school and you need a password to get in. We have a common room and girls and boys dorm rooms, respectively." 

"Cool," Lizzy replied, "Salem is a pretty big school but they just threw all the kids together in one dormitory building." 

"I see," said Harry, "Well, here we are." They had arrived in front of the gargoyle that guarded the door to Dumbledore's office. "Now we have to figure out the password. It's usually some kind of candy." Lizzy looked thoughtful for a moment. 

"Uh…jelly beans?" she tried. The gargoyle remained immobile. 

"Lemon drops…cockroach clusters…" Harry suggested. The gargoyle still didn't move. 

"Try sugar quill," came a kind voice behind them. They turned to see Professor Dumbledore smiling down at them. He walked through the now-open gap the wall and stepped onto the moving staircase. Harry and Lizzy followed quickly behind him. 

Once inside, Dumbledore walked straight to his desk and took a seat. He flicked his wand and a comfortable armchair appeared next to the one that already existed for his guests. 

"Please, have a seat," Dumbledore beckoned. Harry and Lizzy plopped down in their respective chairs. Dumbledore waved his wand over an empty tea tray and a steaming teapot and three flowery teacups spun slowly down to rest on it. "Tea?" 

"Thanks," said Lizzy politely, and reached for a cup after Dumbledore filled it. 

"Harry?" he asked, turning to him with a smile. 

"No thank you, I'm stuffed," Harry said, trying his hardest to return the smile, but only pulled off a small grimace. 

"Hear, hear," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling and looking as though he hadn't noticed Harry's downtrodden behavior, "Now. On to business. I daresay you two have no idea why I called you here today." Harry and Lizzy glanced at each other and both shook their heads. "I had guessed as much. Oh, and I should apologize for not getting a note to you about this meeting, Harry. As you may know, McGonagall and I have been a bit busy this summer." 

"It's alright," Harry replied, actually smiling now. He felt a little relieved that Dumbledore had not completely forgotten him. 

"Now, Miss Aurore, I will get straight to the point," Dumbledore began, surveying her over his half-moon spectacles. "The reason you were transferred here was your exemplary skills in occlumency. Harry, meet your new teacher." 

- 

"Well, well, the truth comes out," Lizzy said, "He only wanted me for my occlumency skills. It's going to be interesting keeping this a secret." 

"I know," Harry replied dolefully, "I usually tell Hermione and Ron everything. But, as usual, Dumbledore insists that it's for their safety and even though the old man gets me mad every once in a while, I still want him to trust me." 

"So I guess this Vor-die-mort thing is pretty serious, isn't it?" 

"It's Voldemort and yeah," Harry replied. They had arrived in front of the fat lady's painting. 

"Oh!" Lizzy suddenly exclaimed, "I know where I've seen Dumbledore before! He had dinner with our principal one night and the next day he told the muggle president about Voldemort. Hmm…It all makes sense now." 

"Hello dears," interjected the fat lady sleepily. Harry said the password and she swung open to let them in. Hermione, Ron, and Neville were sitting around the fire, apparently waiting for Harry and Lizzy's return. 

"Hi!" called Hermione, "How'd it go?" 

"Alright," replied Harry, "You all waited for us all that time?" 

"Yep," replied Neville cheerfully. 

"Oh, Lizzy- this is Neville. Neville, Lizzy," Hermione said. Lizzy gave Neville a little wave and a smile and he blushed. 

"Well," said Ron, standing, "Guess it's time to hit the hay." He yawned and beckoned Harry and Neville to follow him. 

"Nice to meet you," Neville said shyly, and shuffled after Harry and Ron up the boy's staircase. 

"So, what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" Hermione asked Lizzy as they went up their own staircase. Lizzy opened her mouth, thinking of a lie quickly. 

"Oh- he wanted Harry to show me the ropes. Because, you know, I have no idea where I'm going in this place." Hermione chuckled, completely believing Lizzy's lie. They entered the sixth year girls' dormitory to a giggle explosion. 

"You guys wouldn't believe how lovey-dovey Dean is… when he's not talking about football, of course. Look, he even drew this for me!" Ginny was saying. She pulled out a carefully folded piece of paper from her pocket and showed Lavender and Parvarti a pencil drawing of a very realistic owl carrying an envelope with a pink heart on it. Her audience cooed for the loveliness of it all. 

"Hey girls," said Hermione disapprovingly, "Aren't you going to welcome our new room mate?" Lavender and Parvarti made "oops" faces at each other and got up for introductions. 

"Hi, I'm Lavender, and this is Parvarti," Lavender said, "And this is Ginny, but she's a fifth year, so she doesn't live in this room." 

"I'm Lizzy," Lizzy replied, and sat down on her trunk. 

"My brother Ron has a big crush on you," Ginny said without hesitating. Lizzy shot Hermione an incredulous look. 

"What?" she asked Ginny. 

"It's completely obvious. I think it's hilarious whenever he likes someone because he flips out when I have a boyfriend. And he's always oblivious until I tell him. He can be such a git sometimes." The other girls nodded their heads knowingly. 

"Complete idiot," Lavender put in. 

"Totally," Parvarti added. 

"We get into a lot of fights because he says stupid stuff on a regular basis. I don't think he can help it," Hermione said. Lizzy rested her chin in her hand and gazed off into space. 

"But a cute idiot," she said quietly. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny yawned and stood up to leave. 

"I better go. I might get sick from all this girly chatting. G'night!" She then fled from the room, wanting desperately to avoid more romantic talk involving her brother which she ironically started herself. The other girls said their farewells and went to their respective trunks to unpack. Lizzy reached into her bag and unceremoniously dumped the contents onto her four-poster. Hermione noticed the newspaper Lizzy had been reading on the train. 

"Which language is that in?" Hermione asked, pointing. Lizzy glanced at the object of Hermione's question. 

"Chinese. The muggles there are communists, so the media is very biased, but the wizard newspaper is very interesting. And it keeps me from forgetting the language," Lizzy replied, picking it up and looking at it thoughtfully. 

"You're really into all that Eastern stuff, aren't you?" asked Parvarti. Lizzy frowned. 

"How did you know?" she asked incredulously. 

"We heard Malfoy going on about your encounter on the train. He thinks you're a complete weirdo," replied Lavender. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"Don't worry about it," she explained, "It means that you belong in Gryffindor. The Slytherins all hate us and we pretty much hate them back. They especially dislike people that were muggle-born, like me." Lizzy shrugged. 

"I'm half, and I really don't care. We all ended up with magic, didn't we? And if you ever need help with Malfoy, let me know. I'm a black belt in karate and I was set to be the valedictorian of my class in Salem," she said with a wink. Hermione grinned. 

"Me too! I mean, the top girl bit, not the karate. Although, I have been known to kick some arse," Hermione said mischievously. Lavender laughed. 

"If what you mean by kicking arse is slapping Malfoy, then maybe." 

- 

"So what was that all about?" Ron asked while pulling on his paisley pajamas. 

"Huh?" Harry said distractedly. He was thinking about how hard the ensuing task of keeping a big secret from his two best friends was going to be. He understood now just why Hermione cracked in their third year. 

"What-did-Dumbledore-say?" Ron reiterated slowly. 

"Oh! He just…wants me to help Lizzy out. You know, finding classes and stuff. Showing her the ropes, if you will," Harry improvised badly. Ron seemed disheartened and then looked jealous. He slumped down onto his bed with his head in his hand. 

"I can't believe they made Ginny a prefect," Ron moaned. Harry chuckled. 

"After what happened last year, I have a feeling she can handle herself, mate," Harry replied. He took off his glasses and lay down on his bed. 

"Yeah," said Dean hopefully, "I don't think you should worry so much." Ron pointed a threatening finger at him. 

"Don't you talk to me!" Ron said in a surly tone and flopped down on his bed. He roughly turned out his light and yanked the curtains around his four-poster. Harry swore he could hear Ron mutter, "Kill him." Dean shrugged and exchanged "good night" with the rest of the Gryffindor sixth year boys. 

When all was dark in the room, Harry wasn't ready to sleep at all. Thoughts kept swirling around in his head all depicting different ways this scheme could go horribly wrong. Ron would become angry and not speak to him and Hermione would look sad and hurt and try to figure out what was going on. Knowing Hermione, she would have had it figured out in a week. Thinking about Hermione brought an image of her bursting into Harry's mind. He was really confused about how he felt about her now. She had been so understanding and supportive during his depressed summer and now there were those…little things. The instinctive touch and then an embarrassed blush. 

He liked her. A lot. But he wouldn't be able to tell her for a long time, he knew. On that note, Harry began the nightly ritual of attempting to relax his mind to keep the nightmares at bay. 

But he knew they would come anyway. 

…to be continued. 

Post note: Please review the newly revised first chapter. I don't do too much except change around some awkward things. Let me know what you thought.


	2. Don't Panic

**Harry Potter and the Levitating Ch'iyun: Part One **

By infinitykat 

"Suppose I said   
I am on my best behavior   
And there are times   
I lose my weary mind…"   
- John Mayer "Not Myself" 

**Chapter Two: Don't Panic**

_A/N: This is lovely. Gone one chapter without any reviews at all. Oh well. I'll get the word spread somehow. I'm trying my best to improve the story, if that's the reason for your disregard. Please review so I know what should be improved! Thanks! On to Chapitre Three…_

The next day started uneventfully. It was the usual gathering of friends at breakfast sharing their schedules with each other. Breakfast itself was toast, bacon, and eggs; all food that Lizzy had eaten before so the comedic exclamations about upset stomachs were skipped. All through the meal, Harry was yawning and rubbing his eyes. He of course had nightmares and didn't get much sleep. 

"I'm really excited for our N.E.W.T. level classes. It's going to be so challenging!" Hermione was saying with true enthusiasm. 

"Awesome!" Lizzy said, comparing Hermione's schedule with her own, "We have potions today. I'm really good at that." Everyone around her tried to stifle his or her laughter. Lizzy frowned. "What?" 

"I don't think you're going to like potions very much anymore," Harry said with a grin, "Snape makes the class awful even for those who are good at potions." Hermione nodded knowingly. 

"Hermione gets in trouble for helping me," Neville said dolefully, "I'm horrible even with her help. Thank God I don't have to take it anymore." 

"So the teacher's name is Snape?" Lizzy asked incredulously. Neville nodded slowly with a scared wide-eyed look. "Oh come on now, he can't be that bad, can he?" 

"He can," Ron said, pointing to where Snape was eating his eggs with his head down. Lizzy watched him for a moment and then scoffed. 

"Piece of cake," she said, and resumed studying her schedule. 

"If you say so," Ron replied, looking as though he didn't believe her for one minute. 

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts as well," Hermione said to the others, "I can't wait to see what Turnpike is like." Lizzy snorted. 

"I wonder if he's been on the New Jersey Turnpike," she said with a laugh. 

No one knew what she was talking about. 

Later, the friends joined the short queue for advanced Potions with the select few other students attending. Stares and whispers drifted towards them, and also most obnoxiously, sniggers. Malfoy, along with his dull-eyed henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, and his puppy-dog (both in actions and looks) girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, swaggered over to the Gryffindor end of the line. There was still a little fear in his eyes, Lizzy could tell, but he was trying to act as though the events of the day before were completely in the past and had not affected the great Draco Malfoy. 

"Are we excited for Potions, today, then?" he asked in a mockingly squeaky tone. "I know I sure am. Professor Snape sure is the nicest teacher at school, isn't he, boys?" Crabbe and Goyle chuckled stupidly. Lizzy replied with a look of pity usually reserved for a naïve little child. 

"And I bet you're his very favorite student, aren't you, Malfoy? Or maybe one of your fwends here?" Lizzy cooed back, waggling two fingers back and forth between Crabbe and Goyle, who looked completely confused. Draco grinned mischievously. 

"How did they get into this class, anyway?" Harry put in incredulously. Malfoy ignored him and took a step closer to Lizzy. 

"You'd be surprised at what I can get away with, Aurore," he said softly. With that threat dealt out, he turned and strutted back to the head of the line. Pansy made an exaggerated arm swing and snapped, poorly imitating the "disgusting" muggles she'd sneered at on her trip to America that summer. 

"Oh snap," Lizzy exclaimed, laughing, "Ya got me." This particularly tickled the boys while Hermione just rolled her eyes and prayed for a quiet potions lesson. Which, she should have known, was much too much to ask for with this kind of transfer student. 

She looked over at Harry who was recovering from his laughter and had taken off his glasses to rub the tears out of his eyes. Hermione blushed, thinking how handsome he looked without his glasses obscuring his emerald green eyes. Harry replaced his glasses and caught Hermione looking at him. She quickly looked away, blushing harder and cursing herself for feeling this way. Harry smiled a little and looked down, trying not to dare think about _that_. He had debated it all summer, coming to the conclusion that he could not let himself think about Hermione. If Voldemort were to invade his mind when he was thinking that L word and seeing Hermione…He didn't know what he would do. 

Harry was interrupted in his musings by Snape who swept by his students and threw open the dungeon classroom's door. The students flooded into the familiar cold classroom and took their seats with friends. Snape waited with his usual introductory glare. Eventually, the class's flurry of conversation died down to silence. 

Seeing Snape up close for the first time since they had returned, Harry noticed that he was looking worse for wear. Instead of his usual sallow, Snape was on the verge of being completely white as death. 

"This class is your introductory to the _advanced_ level of work you will be expected to produce in the real world. The Potions N.E.W.T. is the most difficult to obtain, mind you, so today we will discover if you're capable of dealing with the kind of skill required to succeed in this class. Tonight you will be writing a two-foot essay on the effects of mixing Draft Of Peace with a Forgetfulness Potion. You must also discuss its remedy, the Scintillating Solution, which we will be making today. If the potion is not perfect, you will receive a fail. Now," Snape announced, waving his wand, "the directions are on the board. You have an hour. Begin." 

The students scrambled to retrieve the correct ingredients from their kits and to light magical fires under their cauldrons. Lizzy followed suit, wondering why everyone looked so worried. 

"So," Lizzy said to Ron, who ended up being her table partner, "If you hate Potions so much, why are you in the advanced class?" Ron was squinting at the board when she asked this and didn't answer for a moment, holding up a finger. 

"I need to take it," he finally responded, "If I want to be an Auror someday." Ron took out some green powder from his kit and, tongue between his teeth, began to carefully measure some into a small flask. 

"Oh." Lizzy paused. "So I guess this dark lord thing is a big deal around here." Ron nodded and was about to reply, but went silent as Snape approached their table. He paused and scrutinized Lizzy with narrowed eyes. 

"Are you our new student?" he asked suspiciously. Lizzy smiled broadly and threw out a hand for Snape to shake. 

"Yep, that's me!" she replied cheerfully. Snape gingerly shook her hand with a look of disgust. 

"Good intentions and pleasantries will not take you far in this class, Miss Aurore. Get back to work." As he walked away, Lizzy gave him a sarcastic two-fingered salute. Ron practically stuffed his hand into his mouth to keep from laughing. 

The hour passed by quickly and by the end, Ron was frantically stirring the potion to get it to be a proper burgundy. It was currently a pale orange and Lizzy, having finished her own potion, tapped an extra ingredient into a vile and subtly placed it in Ron's rack. He looked up at her in desperation and she winked and nodded at it. He dumped it into his cauldron and the potion immediately turned acid green. Lizzy put four fingers on the table and twirled her finger in a stirring motion. Ron followed her advice and finally his potion was correct. He breathed a sigh of relief and gave her such a look of admiration as Snape yelled time that Harry, who was watching over his own cauldron, wouldn't have been surprised if Ron reached over and laid a big one on her. 

Everyone brought up his or her potion and Snape studied them, announcing pass or fail as they were handed in. Both Ron and Lizzy passed with flying colors, though Snape wasn't about to admit it. 

"Remember," he announced sourly as the class gathered their belongings, "Two feet by next class. That is all." 

- 

"That wasn't too bad," Lizzy was saying as they left the classroom. 

"It has been a lot worse," Harry said, then resentfully, "TWO feet of essay and it's only the first day!" 

"You are amazing," Ron mumbled in awe. Lizzy smiled at him and his ears went the same color as the potion he just finished. 

"That was nice of you," Hermione said with a frown, "But you should have let Ron figure it out on his own." Ron stared at Hermione in disbelief. "You need to learn how to deal, Ron. Maybe you're not cut out for the class after all." 

"Don't start guilt tripping me yet, Hermione, it's only the first day!" Ron protested. 

"Well, it's perfectly clear…" Hermione and Ron went on bickering and Lizzy took the opportunity to arrange something with Harry. 

"How about our first lesson tonight after dinner?" she suggested quietly to Harry. He looked over his shoulder at his two friends were both beginning to be red in the face. 

"Sure," replied Harry, "I think it's going to angry silence in the common room tonight anyway." 

…to be continued. 

_Post Note: Another chapter done, finally. I'm kind of in a writer's block right now. Hopefully I'll be breaking through it during the next couple of weeks and get a lot done during winter break. Review please, thanks!_


	3. Spitting Games

**Harry Potter and the Levitating Ch'iyun: Part One **

By infinitykat 

"I broke into your house last night   
And left a note at your bedside   
I'm far too shy to speak to you at school   
You leave me numb and I'm not sure why… 

I struggle for no words and then give up   
My head's up with the birds in the T-hut   
A little piece of mind and I'm no better   
Than the plain disgrace of all my letters."   
-Snow Patrol, "Spitting Games" 

**Chapter Three: Spitting Games**

_A/N: I just want to say a quick thank you to those who reviewed last time. I bet you had to go down the list pretty far to find my story, so thanks for your effort. As you can see above, this chapter is titled after a favorite Snow Patrol song of mine. It's creepily appropriate. :)_

As the day wore on, the sixth-year students were bombarded with warning teachers already guilt-tripping them about responsibility. It was almost worse than their O.W.L. preparation classes the previous year. After Potions, Harry and Ron went to Divination, where they got a break from the madness, but in Ancient Runes, the class Hermione and Lizzy attended, the lecture about the N.E.W.T. took the whole class period. 

Then, after lunch, (where Harry and Ron talked animatedly about their especially hilarious lesson with Trelawney while Hermione rolled her eyes) they went straight to the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom. The door was open, so Harry and Ron cautiously peeked in and saw their new professor at his desk, bending low over a piece of parchment and scribbling something very rapidly. 

Harry cleared his throat and asked if they could come in. Professor Turnpike looked up and smiled, revealing several yellowing teeth. 

"I do say, come in! My first students of the day!" he said with great enthusiasm. As the four friends entered, he stood up and shook each person's hand in turn. "So," he continued, as they took seats in the front, "Are you glad to be back at Hogwarts? I know I am." 

They nodded politely. 

"Yes, yes, well, I had retired many years ago, but when Dumbledore asked me to come back, I thought, I might as well take a crack at it! You know," Turnpike said, leaning forward with the last sentence, "Defense Against The Dark Arts is one of the most important skills one must know at times like these. No one knows if one will need these skills tomorrow in a great battle! But you must know about this, Mr. Potter." Harry tried to smile politely. He nodded and noticed Hermione looking at him with a bit of sadness and attempted comfort. He tried not to acknowledge it. That would lead to forbidden thoughts. 

Their teacher opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound of a book clunking on the floor brought their attention to the door. Neville stood there, nervously blushing. He stooped down quickly to pick it up and hurried to the seat next to Hermione. 

"Another student! Welcome!" Turnpike bellowed, and reached out his hand for Neville to shake. Neville took it and nearly dropped his book again in the action. Blushing again, he made it to his seat and sat down. There was awkward silence for a few moments until a crowd of chattering students started filling the room. Apparently Defense Against The Dark Arts was a much more popular class than Potions. Harry noticed that many of their classmates were in Dumbledore's Army. He smiled as they waved to him. 

"So," Professor Turnpike began, immediately drawing a hushed audience, "I'm very pleased to welcome you to year one of the advanced Defense Against The Dark Arts class. I am Professor Turnpike, and hopefully," he winked, "we will learn together for the next two years. From what I hear, the older students at Hogwarts are much more advanced than they were in my day. We will start with some advanced, yet relatively simple, spells of defense and work our way to the fun stuff." Harry and Ron grinned at each other. 

"Now," he continued, reaching into his musty coat pocket and bringing out a abnormally long wand, "we will start with the Conjunctivitis Curse. This spell is useful like the stupefy spell, as it impairs vital senses of the victim. Can anyone tell me what sense this spell impairs?" 

Hermione's hand shot in the air and a few others raised theirs hesitantly. 

"Yes, Miss-" Turnpike called, nodding at Hermione. 

"Granger. It affects vision," she responded promptly. 

"Quite right." Their professor flicked his wand and a large jar of pixies appeared. Ron sniggered, remembering a certain DADA lesson they had in second year. "Now, we will be practicing this spell on these pixies. I will now teach you the incantation without wands," he paused to push up his glasses, "_Conjunctiva!_" 

The class repeated it in a loud ringing voice. Turnpike smiled and put them in pairs to work with a pixie. Lizzy and Ron (who ended up accidentally-on purpose together) both had trouble pronouncing the spell and eventually, frustrated by the pixie's taunting, Ron bellowed it at the top of his lungs and the pixie spent the next five minutes blindly bumping into things until Turnpike could put him right again for Lizzy to try. Ron was crying with laughter. 

Hermione, on the other hand, had gotten the spell correct on the first try and the pixie was so angry, it buzzed around her head trying to pull on her bushy hair. Harry managed to pry it off and got a bad bite for his efforts. Turnpike quickly put the pixie right and moved on without noticing Harry's hand. Harry shrugged at Hermione. He too immediately blinded the pixie and pulled Hermione to his other side so when the pixie went for her again, it was grabbing at thin air. 

Hermione suddenly gasped and Harry looked down at his hand. It was looking green and a few blisters were starting to form around the cut. 

"Uh, Professor?" he called. Turnpike was just restoring a pixie for Dean and a proud Neville and came limping over. 

"Yes, Potter? Ah! I see you've got this down." 

Harry showed Turnpike his hand. "May I go to Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked. Turnpike started. 

"Right. Good idea," he responded, "Take Miss Granger with you. I don't think this pixie likes her very much…" He stunned the pixie and carried it, unconscious, back to the jar. 

- 

Awkward silence filled the air between Harry and Hermione as they walked slowly towards the hospital wing. Harry looked down at his hand and made a huff of a laugh. 

"First day back and I'm already going to the infirmary," he said with a laugh. Hermione involuntarily smiled and tried to look serious. 

"It's not funny. I hate it when I have to go visit you there," she said with a sigh. Harry looked over at her, but Hermione was carefully avoiding his gaze. "Especially when it's my fault." Harry shook his head and cautiously put an arm around her shoulder. 

"It wasn't your fault that we got a deranged pixie, 'Mione. Besides, I got to do what I do best." 

"What's that?" she asked, sending an incredulous smile his way. 

"Saving people." Hermione chuckled and shook her head. 

"Some things never change," she remarked. Harry looked down. 

_But some things do,_ they both thought; and Hermione's smile faded. She knew she was probably blushing from the feeling of Harry's arm around her shoulders. 

"Ow!" Harry suddenly yelled, removing his arm from Hermione's shoulder and stopping to examine his hand. Hermione looked at it and covered her mouth with her hand. Harry's wound was covered in blisters now and starting to pus. 

"Let's hurry," Hermione said worriedly. They finished the rest of the trip in silence, jogging through the halls the best they could with Harry holding his injured hand out in front of him. 

When they got to the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey took a quick look at the bite. 

"What happened here?" she asked, turning Harry's hand over to find more blisters on his palm. 

"He got bitten by a pixie," replied Hermione, "I don't know why his hand is reacting like that, though." 

"I think you're probably allergic to pixies, Mr. Potter. Have a seat on that bed there. I'll be right back." Madam Pomfrey then disappeared into her office, hopefully getting a remedy. Harry did as he was told and Hermione took a seat in the chair next to the bed. 

"And here I thought I was only allergic to Mrs. Figg's fruitcake," Harry joked weakly, wincing from the pain. Hermione smiled a bit and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Harry couldn't chide himself too much for his stomach flip-flopping because Pomfrey soon returned with a bowl of yellow liquid and a foaming goblet. 

"Drink this," Madam Pomfrey instructed, thrusting the goblet at Harry, "And put your hand in this. It'll help the pain." She put the bowl on the bedside table and Harry immediately dunked his hand in it. He sighed with relief as the murtlap essence did its work. 

Harry gave the goblet a doubtful look and downed the potion within in one gulp. It was all right-tasting on the way down, but it left an odd aftertaste that reminded him of salmon-flavor jelly beans. 

Noticing the look on his face, Hermione smirked. "Not very good is it?" Harry shrugged and made an attempt at a smile. 

"As long as it works," he replied. 

- 

Harry's bandaged hand was a topic of high interest at dinner. 

"Can we see it?" Lizzy asked, setting down her fork. Harry pulled back the gauze to reveal a dark bite mark and one large blister remaining. Lizzy wrinkled her nose and Ron lowered the mashed potatoes he was aiming at his mouth. 

"Put that away, will you?" he asked, nettled. Hermione gave a trademark eye-roll. 

"You know," Lizzy remarked, as they went back to their food, "Hogwarts is HUGE. I think we probably got lost about four times, right, Ron?" Ron smiled sheepishly. 

"Sorry for taking your job, Harry, but we had some time to kill," Ron apologized. Harry looked at him in confusion. 

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Ron cocked an eyebrow. 

"You know, it's your job to show Lizzy around?" Ron said, loading up his fork. 

"Oh- right, right. Shall I make up for it after dinner?" Harry said to Lizzy nonchalantly. Lizzy looked at him questioningly and then comprehension dawned. 

"Sure," she replied. 

"Hey Harry," came a voice behind him. Harry turned around to see Katie Bell, one of the Gryffindor chasers. 

"Hey Katie, how are you?" he said politely. 

"Captain," Katie replied frankly. "I hope you don't have any detention troubles this year because I want to keep our winning streak. Hey Ginny-" she called, and Ginny (who was close by) looked up, "You wouldn't mind letting Harry be seeker again, then?" Ginny shrugged. 

"That's fine. I was thinking about trying out for chaser anyway," she replied with a smile. 

"And that's what I came to talk about. We need to have Chaser AND beater tryouts because we lost Alicia, Angelina, Fred, AND George. They're next Friday and you better be there." 

"We'll be there," Harry said. Ron was looking incredulously at his sister. 

"Seriously?" he called down the table, "You still want to be on the team?" Ginny rolled her eyes. 

"Of course I do Ron. Take a chill pill," Ginny said exasperatedly. 

"So how's your quidditch team here?" Lizzy asked, taking a bite of potato. 

"We're okay," Harry said modestly. Ron clapped him hard on the shoulder. 

"Okay? You're looking at the best seeker Hogwarts has had in a century!" Ron said enthusiastically. Harry rolled his eyes. 

"I'm not the best, just the youngest." Harry turned to Lizzy. "They have a rule about first years being in the school teams and they bent it for me." 

"Yeah, 'cause you're the best! Thank the sages you'll be able to play this year. The cup is in the bag." 

"Don't tell me you're as insane as these two are about quidditch," Hermione pleaded. Lizzy looked at her like she was crazy. 

"You're not a quidditch fan? It's almost the only sport in the wizarding world!" Lizzy exclaimed, and added, in a fake Shakespearian accent, "And a noble sport it 'tis." Ron and Harry laughed pretty loudly at this one. 

_Great_, Hermione thought, _Another quidditch fanatic. I'll be excluded from every conversation this year…_ Harry noticed Hermione's look. 

"Are you alright?" he asked carefully. Hermione looked up quickly and attempted a weak smile. 

"I'm fine," Hermione replied, but Harry could tell she didn't mean it. 

- 

"Well, we'll see you later, then," Harry said to Hermione and Ron. 

"Yeah, we'll probably still be up when you get back. We're getting a start on the potions essay. Isn't that right, Ronald?" Hermione said with a grin. Ron groaned. As Hermione pulled him away, Ron desperately mouthed, "Help me!" Lizzy and Harry were chuckling as they walked away from the main staircase down towards the part of the castle were the best empty classrooms were. 

"This one looks okay," Harry remarked, pushing open a door near the charms classroom. Lizzy took a peek inside and shrugged. 

"Sure. Looks fine to me." They entered and Lizzy looked around, sizing up the dimensions of the room. She strode over to a towering pile of velvet cushions in the corner and carefully pried two out. She set them down in the center of the room, relatively close to one another. Lizzy then pulled out her wand and moved some things around the room; some, like the book near the teacher's desk that she turned slightly eschew, seemed a little superfluous. She was focused in her work, carefully refining placement of objects here and there. 

Harry must have been looking at her incredulously because she turned to him and explained simply, "Fung shui." Harry nodded, but still didn't think the chalkboard erasers needed to be on the floor and two feet to the left of the board. Lizzy beckoned him and sat on one of the cushions. Harry followed suit, facing her on his respective cushion. It wasn't all that comfortable, he had to say. 

"So," Lizzy said, "Dumbledore mentioned that someone tried to teach you occlumency last year." Harry nodded. He had spent all summer trying to block out the memories of Snape's he had seen. "Who taught you?" 

"Professor Snape," Harry replied glumly. Lizzy raised her eyebrows. 

"I see…" Lizzy pondered it for a moment. "His chi is sort of off. Not centered," she decided, "No wonder it wasn't working out." Harry grinned. "Anyway, we're going to try an approach that you probably haven't done before. You know what meditation is, right?" 

"Erm…sort of," Harry replied sheepishly. Lizzy waved a hand at him with the assurance that his ignorance was acceptable. 

"That's fine. It's an ancient Asian technique to center your energy, relax, rejuvenate, that sort of thing. Sit in meditation position," she instructed, indicating her folded legs, "And place your arms in a comfortable arrangement. By the way, you don't have to have them in the stereotypical pose," Lizzy continued, touching fore fingers to thumbs and making a ridiculous grimace, "That's just for the experts like me." She winked. "Now, close your eyes and focus on one thing. For example, the number one. Just keep repeating it in your head. Let everything else fall away. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth." 

Harry did as he was instructed, starting to get that horrible "this is stupid" feeling. He tried to shake it off and concentrate on one. 

One…one…in through the nose, out through the mouth…one…one…one…one hand…one…one…only one can live…one…one…one equal… 

Thinking that Harry was deep in meditation, Lizzy quietly raised her wand. 

"_Legilimens_!" she whispered…and was mentally blown back by the flood of memories that crashed into her mind. 

_It is dark…a snake slithers by and the darkness is pronounced by an all-consuming light shooting out of a gigantic cauldron…facing a man…but more of a snake with piercing red slits for eyes and men in white masks and inky robes…a man with long dark hair being hit with a spell and thrown back through a curtain…pain and complete shock to the heart…_

Lizzy tore her eyes away from Harry and squeezed them shut as her thoughts became her own again. Yet, all she could see were those eyes…those eyes like the center of fire that is so hot you can't look at it too long…but worse. Is this what Harry saw in his nightmares? Lizzy cautiously looked Harry who was bent over the floor, trying to steady himself with his hands. He was gasping for breath and reached a shaky hand to his glasses, which had fallen off when Lizzy assaulted his mind. 

"I…I…I'm so sorry, Harry…I thought…you were…" Lizzy stammered, and eventually fell silent. Harry replaced his glasses and sat up. He sighed. 

"It's…it's all right. You didn't know…what kind of thoughts I'm trying to clear," Harry said softly. Lizzy wanted to ask him who the fallen man was and what was the significance of the curtain was. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it when she saw the tired look on Harry's face. 

"Okay…Let's just work on meditating for a while, I guess. No more spells, I promise," Lizzy said shakily. Harry nodded and closed his eyes again. 

- 

For the next month, the lessons continued just as Lizzy said. Just meditation and no trial of Harry's progress. Lizzy was too afraid that she would take him off guard again and be subjected to those awful memories. It felt too awkward to ask him about them. Also, Harry's patience was wearing thin. He could barely keep his mind off Hermione, let alone keep from her and Ron that he was working on occlumency. 

One night, he sat with Hermione at a table off to the side of the common room, away from Lizzy's "social club" by the fire. She was surrounded by Gryffindor boys of all ages (including Ron), chattering animatedly about her old school. The boys were rapt with attention, looking as though if she told them that she was a toad in a former life, they'd believe her. Hermione looked on with disgusted indignation. 

"Something's not right with her," she said quietly, almost to herself, "She's almost too perfect, don't you think?" Harry looked up and glanced Lizzy's way. 

"I dunno. What do you mean?" he replied, treading carefully. Hermione rolled her eyes and gestured towards the gross display of hormones. 

"That's what I mean. Don't you think it's a little odd? I mean, when has Hogwarts ever had a transfer student?" she said suspiciously, and looked thoughtful. Harry paled. She was in her detective mode. 

"Never, I guess," Harry replied weakly. 

"There must be some ulterior reason why she's been transferred. I've never heard of anyone being transferred because of good grades before, right? We should check this out…" Hermione trailed off, looking thoughtful. 

"I dunno…" Harry said again. 

"Well, why not?" Hermione demanded, looking surprised. Harry shushed her and beckoned her closer. 

"It just…it could be something serious, something that the teachers are keeping from us for a reason," Harry explained quietly. 

"But…" Hermione pleaded. 

"No, Hermione. I don't…I mean, the last time I looked too far into something without telling an adult…" he trailed off, looking down. Hermione comprehended in an instant, slapping her hand over her mouth. 

"Oh Harry," she moaned, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-" Harry straightened up. 

"It's all right. I'm sure it's nothing. Besides, I think we have something to fill our time with," he said, placing a hand on one of the many books cluttering the table. Hermione giggled and with a quick hand squeeze went back to work, blushing. 

Harry inwardly sighed with relief. That was close. Almost too close. 

- 

As it turned to October, time seemed to drag along painfully slowly. Every student above second year was anxious for Halloween's arrival and its feast and Hogsmeade trip. Also, the sky outside was not sunny or rainy; its mood would be best described as "misty." So, as the students tramped down the Hagrid's hut for Care Of Magical Creatures lessons, they gradually felt more and more damp. Hermione would show up every time with her hair almost the size of Hagrid's, which particularly tickled Malfoy and the other Slytherins, not to mention Lavender and Parvarti who tried to hide their twitters behind mittened hands. 

It was early morning at Hogwarts, and Harry reluctantly opened his eyes. He slowly closed them again, hoping for a few more minutes of solitude. The past six weeks were by far the most difficult of his time spent at Hogwarts, even with the tumultuous last two years. Every week he had Quidditch practice, Occlumency practice, and, as of the last week, Dumbledore's Army meetings. It was back by popular demand even Turnpike was turning out to be very competent teacher. All these things, topped with a delectable amount of homework, (at least to Hermione,) made Harry dread the fact that it was indeed… 

Monday. 

Harry lay there in the silence, savoring every moment of it. He had Potions and Divination that morning, Occlumency that evening, and…what was that sound? Harry's mind and eyes snapped to attention as he heard the bathroom door close and the floorboards creak towards his bed. 

"Harry?" Ron's voice whispered urgently. Harry grunted in response. "Could you…I mean, could you help me…" Harry, intrigued by Ron's incapability to make words, reached over to his glasses and tugged opened his hangings. 

"Yeah?" Harry said, pinching his eyes shut in the blinding sunlight. When he managed to open them, he saw Ron standing at the foot of his bed, looking terribly nervous about something and adjusting his school robes. 

"I need your opinion…I was going to do something today, but if you think it's stupid…" Harry squinted at him. 

"What is it?" Ron's ears turned a lovely shade of pink. 

"Well…you know it's Hogmeade this weekend…" 

"Yeah…" 

"And it's Halloween as well…" 

"I'm aware…" 

"And I…erm…" Harry covered his face with his hand, frustrated at Ron's idiocy so early in the morning. 

"Just spit it out, man!" He practically yelled. Ron's ears were definitely a violent shade of magenta now. 

"Should I ask Lizzy to go with me?" Ron squeaked in one breath. Harry looked surprised. 

"Like on a date?" He retorted, sounding incredulous. Ron looked down. 

"Well…I…" Ron stammered, deeply embarrassed. 

"Go for it," Harry said, straight-faced. Ron looked up so quickly his neck almost cricked. 

"Really? I mean…d'you think she'd say yes?" Ron's face lit up with hope. 

"Definitely, mate. I'd say go for it," Harry said again, smiling. Ron grinned. 

"Thanks, mate. Well, better get down to breakfast," he said cheerfully and flounced out the door. Harry looked around the dormitory and realized with a shock that he was the last to get out of bed. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his books, hoping that he would be able to shove something down before Potions. 

- 

"What do you think?" Lizzy asked, holding up her dark hair in a French twist. Hermione joined her at the mirror and shrugged. 

"It looks great, but why so much fuss? It's just school," Hermione said. 

"I know, but…can I tell you a secret?" Lizzy said, letting her hair fall over her shoulders and twisting her hands together nervously. 

"Sure. What is it?" Hermione replied, her eyebrows raised. 

"My horoscope said that I'm in for some romance today, and I think…oh this is stupid…" 

"No, tell me." Lizzy's brow knitted together in a grimace of embarrassment. 

"That Ron is going to ask me out today," she said quickly. Hermione laughed and sank down to sit on her trunk. Lizzy's face fell. "It's stupid, isn't it? Oh, I shouldn't've-" Hermione regained her compose. 

"No-well, the horoscope part is ridiculous, of course, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that Ron is going to ask you out," Hermione said with a slight smile. Lizzy gasped in excitement. 

"You really think so?" Lizzy squeaked hopefully. Hermione raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, yeah. Hogsmeade is this weekend and if I know Ron, which isn't so hard, he's so bloody transparent; he's going to ask you to go with him." Lizzy squealed and embraced Hermione. 

"Oh, thank you so much!" Lizzy said, and turned back to the mirror. Hermione stood up and with a flick of her wand, Lizzy's hair wound itself up into an elegant knot on the back of her head. 

"Wow," Lizzy whispered, "That's way better than what I was going to do." She then proceeded to apply every kind of makeup known to mankind. Hermione sat down on the vanity seat and started playing with one of the many lipsticks Lizzy owned. 

Lizzy paused her mascara application and said, "You can use that if you want." Hermione glanced up at her reflection and shook her head. 

"That's all right. I don't wear makeup," Hermione replied, looking sadly at herself and her mound of frizzy hair. Lizzy put down the mascara and looked at Hermione seriously. 

"Well, you are naturally pretty. So I guess the makeup isn't necessary," Lizzy said quietly. Hermione shook her head again and found that she was fighting back tears. Hermione wanted to hate Lizzy for her popularity with the boys, but she had to go and be nice in times like this. 

"No, I'm not," she whispered. Lizzy sighed. 

"Yes, you are. And I bet some choice boy real estate would agree with me," Lizzy said, winking. Hermione stared at her incredulously. 

"Riiight. Like who?" Hermione said slowly, looking apprehensive of Lizzy's response. Lizzy grinned. 

"Harry," she said, grinning even wider. Hermione's jaw dropped involuntarily and she blushed profusely. 

"Don't lie," Hermione demanded. Lizzy put her hands in the air. 

"I'm not! You should see the way he looks at you. I swear to god. If anyone's getting asked out this weekend, it's going to be you," Lizzy replied with a smirk. 

"Anyway," Hermione said, trying to shift the conversation to a less uncomfortable subject, "How would you be able to tell? You've got the majority of the Gryffindor boys fawning over you all the time." Lizzy laughed and shook her head. 

"Those idiots? Please. Besides, I'm not like you. I _have_ to wear makeup to look decent," Lizzy confessed, "It takes a lot of work to get me looking like this." Hermione shot her another incredulous look. "For real! Did I tell you yet that my hair is almost as curly as yours?" 

"Now you're really lying," Hermione said with a laugh. She went to her trunk and began searching for the books she'd need for the day. 

"No! I'm serious! I mean, did you ever think that it was kinda weird that I'm French and my hair is straight? I'm jealous of you. You don't need all that crap." Hermione shook her head again and lugged her now-bulging book bag over her shoulder. 

"Well, if you're really not lying, which I doubt, you'll have to tell me your hair secret someday," Hermione said, patting Lizzy on the shoulder and walking out the door. She was still blushing. 

- 

As Harry descended the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall, a flood of other students was splashing out of the Great Hall. Emotions ranged from the eager (first years off to Herbology) to the Monday-induced glum. As Harry searched the crowd for Hermione and Ron, he caught a glimpse of Cho Chang, who looked at him for a moment, then turned away blushingly. Harry hardly cared and hoped they wouldn't start having "accidental" meetings around school again. 

"Hey Harry!" Hermione called from the edge of the crowd. She was waving a stack of toast in one hand and holding a bottle of pumpkin juice in the other. 

"Thanks so much," Harry said, taking the food from her and starting to eat. Hermione beamed at him and blushed, remembering what Lizzy said. Ron was scowling about something, looking over his shoulder at Malfoy and his entourage. He was looking particularly smug about probably the same thing. 

"What's up?" Harry asked Ron. He scoffed and turned to Harry. 

"Apparently, Malfoy made a big score last night and is showing off to anyone who will listen," Ron grumbled, and turned his head to continue his scowling. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"Stop being so jealous, Ron," she said. Ron narrowed his eyes at her. 

"I'm not jealous, I…" he began, and seeing Lizzy approach them, continued, "I just think that no one should treat women like some kind of meat to be chewed up and spat out again." Lizzy wrinkled up her nose. 

"Ew," she said, but looked at Ron as though he was sweet for trying, anyway. Lizzy pulled Hermione towards her and whispered something in her ear, which Hermione seemed to find particularly amusing. They walked ahead of Ron and Harry, giggling and glancing back at them every once in a while. Ron rolled his eyes, but his ears were almost maroon. Harry just looked puzzled. 

"Jealous?" Harry asked matter-of-factly. 

"Yeah," Ron replied, defeated. 

- 

_I find it easier to sit and stare, than to push my limbs out towards you right there._

After a particularly tortuous Potions lesson, where they tried to mix a seemingly useless hairball potion that Snape insisted would show up on the N.E.W.T., our heroes glumly slumped down the corridor to their next class. Harry kept throwing meaningful looks at Ron while Lizzy and Hermione discussed their excitement over their next class, Ancient Runes. Every time, Ron looked more and more on the edge of being sick. Finally, Harry cleared his throat and announced that in his rush to get out of the dormitory, he'd left his Divination things in his trunk. Ron looked absolutely frightened as Harry strode away and threw a wink over his shoulder at him. 

Swallowing hard, Ron made up his mind. "Uh, Hermione? Could you excuse us for a moment? I need to ask Lizzy something," he said shakily. Hermione looked as though she was going to protest for a moment, but then made a weird face as if she knew the answer to a question in class but wanted to give someone else a chance. 

"Okay. I'll save you a seat in class, then, Lizzy?" Hermione said, trying to hide a smile at the look on her face. Lizzy came out of her horrified trance. 

"Wha? Oh-oh right. Thanks," she said, her face the same color Ron's ears were glowing at the moment. There was an awkward silence as Hermione walked away and stopped to talk to a couple of their Hufflepuff classmates. "So…" Lizzy said finally, "What did you want to ask me?" Ron nervously ran a hand through his hair and stuffed the other in his pocket. 

"Well…erm…it's Halloween this weekend…" Ron began. Lizzy nodded with baited breath. 

"And…well, it's the first Hogsmeade trip as well…" 

"Uh-huh," Lizzy managed. 

"I was wondering if…" Lizzy raised her eyebrows… "Would you like to go with me?" Ron finally blurted. Lizzy smiled and blushed even harder. She opened her mouth to respond… 

"OY! LIZZY!" came a voice. One of Hermione's companions, who Ron vaguely recognized as That Obnoxious Indian Kid, was beckoning Lizzy to hurry up to class. The other Hufflepuff, That Obnoxious Indian Kid's Girlfriend, punched him in the arm. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"Hold your horses!" Lizzy screamed back at him. She turned back to Ron, sighing. She immediately became shy again though, and nodded her head. "I'd love to go with you." 

"Really?" Ron said in a strangled voice. Lizzy nodded again and looked down. Ron grinned. 

"LIZZY! HEY, LIZZY! LET'S GO!" Now both T.O.I.K. and T.O.I.K.G. were yelling at Lizzy and frantically waving their arms toward the Ancient Runes classroom. Hermione was attempting and failing to shush them. 

"Well, I've got to go, but I'll see you at lunch?" Lizzy said with a smile. 

"Okay," Ron said, completely relieved. 

"Bye then," Lizzy replied, and stood on her toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek. She hurried off to her friends, leaving Ron elated and also in awe as he touched his cheek gingerly with his fingers. He glanced at his watch and realized with a jolt that he was late for Divination. Ron took off at a sprint down the hall, only pausing to jump up and touch one of the candle-lit chandeliers. 

…to be continued. 

**Post Note: I cut this one off because it was dragging on forever. Its original title is going to be used in chapter 5. Anyway, here's some credits/connections: **

Hermione and Lizzy's Hufflepuff friends is a cameo of Ray and Lily from my favorite T.V. show, Radio Free Roscoe. I had to put them in there somewhere. 

The random song quote in the middle was from Snow Patrol's "Spitting Games," which is also the title of the chapter. 

The phrase "as if she knew the answer to a question in class but wanted to give someone else a chance" is from The Princess Diaries. The answer? That Mia and Michael are in lurve. :) Ahem. Anyway…Review, please! 


	4. Something's Missing

**Harry Potter and the Levitating Ch'iyun: Part One **

By infinitykat 

"I'm not alone, I wish I was   
'Cause then I'd know I down because   
I couldn't find a friend   
To love me like they do right now   
They do right now… 

Something's missing   
And I don't know how to fix it   
Something's missing   
And I don't know what it is   
No I don't know what it is at all…" 

John Mayer, "Something's Missing" 

**Chapter Four: Something's Missing **

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to whoever wishes there was an over-the-counter test for loneliness. 

During the first two months of school, Hermione had become keenly aware of Professor turnpike's oddness. It was no exception that Monday afternoon as the large class squeezed their way through the door to the classroom. Turnpike was at his desk, as he always was, scribbling away at decaying parchment. Today, his hands were splattered with ink and his hair more on end than usual, most likely from running his hands through it in frustration. Was Hermione being overly observant, or was their new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher doomed as was all their previous ones? 

When Hermione passed his desk, she tried to sneak a peek at Turnpike's writing, but only glimpsed a few scribbled letters before he straightened up and consequentially moved his arm over the papers. Turnpike smiled at her, but his eyes knew what she was up to. Hermione offered a weak smile in return and scurried to her seat. 

The day's lesson was an unusually uneventful one where Turnpike lectured them on a particularly dangerous creature. As interesting as Turnpike's rambling voice was, Harry was finding himself dozing off. His busy schedule must have been getting the better of him. _No,_ he told himself, _Do not fall asleep. You can't be shouting nonsense in the middle of lecture._ As hard as he tried, Harry found himself hearing something about blood-thirsty instincts and then was completely gone. 

Harry's dream started out normally enough. It was the first quidditch game of the season and Harry had somehow forgotten his Firebolt. So there he was, frantically trying to get back to the common room to fetch it, but Katie was urging him towards the pitch. 

"You'll be fine," she kept saying, "Just use the spell Hermione taught you." Harry insisted that he had no idea what she was talking about, but she would have none of it. Ron clapped him on the shoulder and grinned as he kicked off to Madam Hooch's whistle. Harry stayed on the ground, trying to get Madam Hooch's attention to call a time-out. But she just circled over his head like a hawk, and he didn't know whom she was stalking; he or the team members she was supposed to be watching. 

Suddenly, someone waving to him in the Gryffindor stands caught Harry's eye. It was Hermione, and even though she was yards away, Harry could see her features clearly. She looked extremely hurt and a silent tear ran down her cheek. 

"Why didn't you remember?" she whispered, as if she were beside Harry. Just as suddenly as the words shivered across his cheek, she was beside him, but they were in the Death Room in the bowels of the Ministry. It was June, and the chaos of dueling spells whizzed around them. "Do something," she whispered in the same way. 

Harry saw, just as before, Sirius falling back in slow motion toward that fateful curtain. Harry desperately tried to run to him, but his feet were glued to the floor. 

"Do something," Hermione was saying more urgently, "Harry! Do something! Why are you just standing there? Harry!" 

"I can't!" he wanted to say, "I need to…Sirius!" His godfather vanished through the curtain. 

"Harry!" Hermione said again, but this time she was shaking him. "Harry, wake up!" 

Harry's eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly. He was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and everyone was frozen in packing-up positions as they stared at him. Hermione put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Are you all right?" she asked quietly. Harry nodded and looked around at the others with his brows raised. Someone cleared his throat and the classroom came back to life. With a dull pain between his eyes, Harry gazed blearily at his unfinished notes. 

"Did I…Did I say anything?" he said, still looking at his paper. He could hear Hermione letting out a little sigh. 

"Yeah," she responded, "Just before you woke up." Harry knew he must have yelled Sirius's name out loud and would have to endure curious questions about why he had been shouting escaped convicts' names in his sleep. 

"Great," Harry mumbled, and looked up indubitably to Turnpike's disapproving gaze. But he was hunched over another parchment and was scribbling like mad. Harry sighed. "I better apologize." 

"Okay," Ron said; he clapped Harry on the shoulder in an eerily similar fashion to his dream self. Ron, Hermione, and a wordless Lizzy joined the crowd out the door. Harry finished stuffing his papers into his bag when the classroom was empty save Turnpike and himself. He took a deep breath, hoping his punishment didn't involve any Umbridge-like activity. 

- 

_What am I to you? Tell me darlin' true. To me you are sea; Fast as you can be, deepest shade of blue._

A few moments later, Hermione stood in the corridor outside of Turnpike's classroom, slightly separated from the flirting Ron and Lizzy. Hermione chewed on her thumbnail, feeling entirely anxious and horrified that Harry was still having nightmares about last June and also wondering what it meant. He could just be having anxiety nightmares that included a trip back to that particularly stressful event. But, and this was what Hermione feared the most, Voldemort could be torturing Harry with a repeated reel of his darkest hour. Could this awful wizard do something like that? Hermione shivered involuntarily. She didn't know nor did she want to. 

Sighing, Hermione found herself wishing that she could just take Harry into her arms and protect his mind from anything painful. His life was nothing but pain at the moment and a break from it was well deserved. 

At that moment, Harry emerged from the classroom. Hermione stared at him and tried to assess her feelings. He was still the same old Harry, his hair going wherever it liked and his green eyes shimmering behind his glasses. He had grown a little over the summer, (but not as dramatically as he had before fifth year) and years of seeker training made him lean and strong. Hermione felt a prang of embarrassment when she realized Harry was right in front of her and starting to smile at the look on her face. 

"What?" she asked haltingly. Harry chuckled. 

"Nothing," he replied, still smiling, "Did you even hear a word I said?" Hermione blushed and shook her head. "I got off with just some extra homework." 

"That's good," Hermione said quietly. "Sorry," she added, "I was just thinking about…things." Harry's smile faded. 

"Don't worry about it," he said softly. Hermione shook her head and felt tears welling up in her eyes. 

"I know you Harry. When you say that, I know it's something to be worried about." She definitely was crying now. Harry sighed and pulled her into a gentle embrace. 

"It's all right. I'm…I'm working on it, okay?" he whispered close to her ear. Hermione took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled away. She nodded. "Good," Harry said, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "Trust me, I'll be all right." Hermione nodded again and took another deep breath, looking around for Ron and Lizzy to distract her from a surely awkward moment. But they were nowhere to be seen. She chuckled. 

"Anyway," Hermione said, regaining her composure and starting to walk down the corridor, "I guess Lizzy was right about Ron." Harry sent her an incredulous look. 

"About what?" he asked. 

"Oh, she just predicted that Ron was going to ask her out today," Hermione said with a chuckle. Harry laughed. 

"Yeah, he was pretty nervous. He asked my opinion as if I had any expertise in the department," Harry replied. 

"But it was very smooth of you to slink off like that so he would get on with it," Hermione said with a smile. 

"All in a day's work," he replied with a wink. "Speaking of Hogsmeade, I wanted to ask you something." 

"Yeah?" Hermione replied, daring not to hope...Was this finally the moment of truth? 

"Do you think we should have a recruitment meeting for Dumbledore's Army at the Three Broomsticks? I think we should spread the word now that it's a legal club." 

Hermione's heart sank a bit. "Good idea," she said, trying to hide her disappointment, "I'll make some flyers." 

She chided herself for being such a fool. 

- 

When Harry arrived for his occlumency lesson that evening, he found Lizzy pacing the length of the empty classroom. 

"What's up?" he asked, looking confused. Lizzy started at the sound of his voice. 

"Oh, hi. Nothing. Come sit down," she said distractedly and sat down herself. Once Harry was settled, Lizzy seemed to have come to a decision. "So…" she began, and looked at him as if wanting confirmation. "We've only worked on meditation since…our first lesson, and I think you've really got the technique down." Harry nodded. 

"But something's missing. And I think we need to talk about it. I've been avoiding mentioning it since…the first lesson, but after what happened today-" 

"I'm okay!" Harry interjected, "I don't need a therapy session! I can take care of myself!" Lizzy narrowed her eyes. 

"So I've been wasting my time trying to help you? Because that's all I've been doing this whole time. And Dumbledore seems to think that I'm being useful. I should just-" Harry held up his hand. 

"I'm sorry. I just-I'm feeling a little stressed out about all of this. Hermione, she…oh never mind," Harry mumbled. Lizzy sighed. 

"That is what we should talk about," she said quietly, "And everything else that has been bothering you lately. I won't pretend that we're close friends, but telling someone your troubles will definitely help this process." Harry folded his arms and looked down. When he looked up again, Lizzy was waiting for him to say something. 

"All right. But this cannot leave this room," he warned. Lizzy nodded. Harry took a deep breath and began telling Lizzy his life story, or at least all the parts that were relevant to what was troubling him. He included a great deal though, ranging from his life with the Dursleys to the Triwizard Tournament. He finished with Sirius's death, and how guilty he felt about it. By the end of his narrative, Lizzy was looking thoroughly concerned. Harry felt emotionally drained, as he always did when he had to retell painful memories. She sighed. 

"Well, they say that everything happens for a reason and I think it's true. And I know," Lizzy added, when Harry opened his mouth angrily, "I know, Harry, that that doesn't justify that everything that happens is right. But you can't punish yourself for things that happened in the past. You can't go back and change those things. Well…maybe you can, but there are major repercussions. You should concern yourself with now, and just know that whatever has happened, has happened, and you were meant to do what you did." Harry looked down, utterly deflated, but relieved that Lizzy didn't act as if his story was stupid. He heard Lizzy laugh and looked up. She was smiling slightly and shaking her head. 

"There's something else," she said. Harry squinted at her in confusion. 

"What do you mean?" he asked tentatively. Lizzy folded her arms. 

"In that whole speech, you never once mentioned any romantic problems," she said, smirking. Harry scratched his head sheepishly. Yes, he had carefully avoided mentioning his troubles with Cho. And he would die if she knew about Hermione. 

"Well…oh you don't want to hear my pathetic girl problems. What, are you going to give me tips just like in Witch Weekly?" Harry said with an awkward smile. Lizzy laughed. 

"Of course not. But I might know things that you don't. So go ahead, try me." 

"Well, I had a…thing with this girl Cho last year…" 

"Oh- Cho Chang?" Lizzy asked, and Harry nodded. "She's kind of weird. Always giving Hermione dirty looks in Ancient Runes. What happened?" 

"Well, she was Cedric Diggory's girlfriend and I thought she liked me last year and wanted to hang out and stuff; but all she did around me was cry and try to get me to talk about the night…he died. I think she expected me to just know what she wanted me for, but of course I was a git and she broke it off. But I'm over it," Harry explained, and was telling the truth. His crush on Cho was long gone. 

"Okay, how about now?" Lizzy said, looking amused. 

"Pardon?" Harry asked, trying to look innocently confused. Lizzy rolled her eyes. 

"Who do you like now? There has to be _someone_." Lizzy was biting back a laugh. 

"I can't tell you that," he replied, turning red. 

"I promise it won't leave this room," Lizzy said, "Unless…you have a crush on me!" She burst out laughing at the look on Harry's face. "I'm just kidding. I actually think I know who it is, but I want to hear you say it." Lizzy winked and Harry squirmed in his seat, looking really uncomfortable. 

"You swear you won't tell anyone? I haven't even told Ron about this…" Lizzy nodded vigorously, looking very interested. 

"It's…Hermione," Harry muttered. Lizzy squealed and started hopping up and down in her seat, clapping. Harry grudgingly smiled with her. "I've tried to forget it, but I can't. She's my best friend, you know? And I don't want to ruin that. Also, what if Voldemort looks in my head and finds out that she's the one that keeps me going? I don't want her to get hurt. And what if she doesn't like me back?" Harry was rambling now, his heart beating wildly in anxiety. 

"I don't think you have to worry about that last one," Lizzy said, smiling. Harry felt like he hadn't heard her properly. 

"What do you mean?" he asked numbly. 

"Duh, Harry. Grow a brain. Hermione's completely head over heels for you." Harry's eyes widened in shock and felt excitement choke his insides. 

"Really?" he asked breathlessly. Lizzy laughed and nodded. Something seemed to dawn on her and she started to look really excited. 

"You should ask her to go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend!" Lizzy exclaimed, grabbing hold of Harry's wrist. 

"But I can't," Harry said, causing Lizzy to grip his wrist even tighter, "What if…Voldemort…I can't…" Lizzy sighed exasperatedly and let go of his wrist. 

"Oh c'mon- it wouldn't hurt…" 

"Oh yes it could. I don't want to risk it. If anything happened to her…I just don't know what I'd do," Harry said miserably. 

"Okay, let's make a deal," Lizzy said reasonably, "If we have intensive lessons this week and actually get around to occlumency, will you ask her?" Harry looked apprehensive, but he nodded. "Good! Now let's get to meditating. I have a lot of homework tonight." 

Harry closed his eyes, hoping with all his heart that Lizzy was telling the truth. But for some reason, he felt like his date with Hermione probably wouldn't happen. 

…To be continued. 

**Post note: Review, please! Credits: **

Song quote from Norah Jones' "What Am I To You?" 

I kinda stole a line from the first fan fiction I ever became obsessed with. You'd only know if you've read it or if you're the author. ;) 


	5. The Nearness Of You

**Harry Potter and the Levitating Ch'iyun: Part One **

By infinitykat 

"It's not the pale moon that excites me   
That thrills and delights me, oh no   
It's just the nearness of you… 

I need no soft lights to enchant me   
If you'd only grant me the right   
To hold you ever so tight   
And feel in the night the nearness of you" 

Norah Jones, "The Nearness Of You" 

**Chapter Five: The Nearness Of You **

A/N: Dedicated to the one I wish I were near to. 

Although Ron felt that something had finally happened in his favor, his victory was somehow tainted. He had done it; he had asked Lizzy out and amazingly, she had said yes. But, as the week drew to a close, Ron was feeling bitter resentment. It was towards none other than his best friend and natural winner, Harry Potter. 

He knew that Harry and Lizzy's regular disappearances that week were probably mere coincidence. He also realized Harry's obvious adoration of Hermione, but that didn't stop his hypotheses either. So on Friday night, feelings of pre-date jitters and suspiciousness-induced unease had come to a head and Ron made his way over to Harry who was doing homework with Hermione. Ron should have noticed Harry's frequent glances over at their mutual best friend and the nervous hand shake he had developed. But Ron's building temper kept him from seeing these signs as he placed his hands on the table in front of Harry and leaned towards him. 

"Harry," he said, as quietly as he could manage, "Could I have a word? In private?" Harry looked up at Ron in confusion at his angry visage. He nodded and followed Ron up to their dormitory. 

"All right," Ron said once they were alone, "I know what's been going on." Harry gave Ron his best innocently confused face, but inside he was panicked. Had Ron figured out Harry's feelings for Hermione? Or worse, his private occlumency lessons with Lizzy? Damn. He knew he'd have to confess sooner or later. 

"What do you mean?" Harry said evenly. Ron folded his arms and glared. 

"When were you going to tell me you and Lizzy have been going around together behind my back?" Ron shot out, unable to control himself any longer. Harry bit back a laugh. 

"What-do you think we're having an…affair or something?" Harry asked incredulously. Ron deflated a little. 

"Do you mean- you're not?" Ron squeaked. Harry let out his laugh now and shook his head. 

"Of course not. Where'd you get that idea?" Ron scratched his head, feeling entirely relieved and embarrassed now. 

"Well, you've both been absent from the common room every night this week, and I just thought…well, what else would I think?" Ron finished weakly. Harry sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. He sighed and looked up at Ron with weariness in his eyes. 

"You better sit down," Harry said quietly. Ron did so, ears burning up again. "I was supposed to keep this a secret, but I should have known I couldn't keep the truth from you, mate." Harry sighed again. "I've been getting occlumency lessons from Lizzy. That's why she transferred here." Ron's mouth fell open. 

"Seriously? She's _teaching_ you occlumency? She's…she's brilliant!" Ron gazed fondly off into space for a moment; then shook his head to bring himself back to the conversation. "But why d'you have to keep quiet?" Harry shrugged. 

"I dunno. Dumbledore's orders," Harry replied honestly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Ron. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially not Hermione." Ron knitted his brow together. 

"Why not?" he asked, confused. 

"It's bad enough that I told you; Hermione would flip out. She's been suspicious of Lizzy from the start and I know she'd forbid me to go. I think I'll wait until after everything's said and done so it won't be so bad," Harry replied glumly. Ron scratched his head, apparently thinking. 

"Just answer me one more question: Why have you been having lessons every night this week? Didn't you only have your lessons with Snape once a week last year?" 

"Yeah," Harry said, starting to look embarrassed, "I did. But…there were special circumstances this week." 

"Like what?" Ron asked at length. 

"We made a deal…If I worked really hard on occlumency this week, I'd ask…Hermione to Hogsmeade," Harry managed to say. Ron gasped. 

"I knew it!" he exclaimed, standing up. Harry looked as though Ron had slapped him. "You fancy Hermione, don't you?" Harry nodded, his face completely red now. 

"I don't know what to do, mate," he said uncomfortably. "I don't want her to get hurt if Voldemort…you know." Ron lowered himself slowly back to his seat, looking horrified. 

"I didn't think of that…" Ron mumbled. 

"Yeah, well, I have. And I've decided not to do it." 

"But you've got to!" Ron said with conviction. "You can't wait around to tell her how you feel! Then it'll be too late. I know, mate. I've been there." Harry looked up at Ron quickly. He'd always suspected that Ron had fancied Hermione, but he never admitted it like this. Ron looked slightly sad as he whispered, "She's special. Don't let her get away." 

---- --- -- - 

Nothing was keeping Harry from asking Hermione now, except for…himself. Even Ron, whom Harry had been afraid would be resentful of him for going out with Hermione, was cheering him on. But as Harry returned to the common room after that revealing conversation with his best friend, he just knew he couldn't do it. Hermione was still bent over her homework were Harry had left her, curly hair falling into her face. Every once in a while she sat up a little, brow knitted in concentration, stroking the end of her quill against her chin. She had to be so wonderfully and intimidatingly beautiful in that moment. 

Hermione noticed Harry looking at her and smiled curiously at him. Harry smiled weakly in return and made his way back to his seat at the table. 

"So," Hermione said when Harry had quill in hand and was ready to get to work, "what did Ron want to talk to you about?" 

"Nothing important," Harry lied. "He was just having pre-date jitters." _Okay,_ he told himself, _Only a half-lie. Nice going._ Hermione sighed dramatically. 

"Our little Ronnikins is finally growing up, isn't he?" she said with a smirk. Harry snorted. 

"Hardly," he replied and Hermione giggled. Was it a nervous giggle? Harry's heart skipped a beat at the sound. "So," he continued, clearing his throat to rid the strangle his nerves had on it, "What are we going to do tomorrow now that we don't have Ron tagging along?" Hermione blushed, cursing her feelings. She knew she shouldn't get her hopes up. Although, Harry _had_ been inexplicably extra-dashing all week. Hermione's rational side told her that it was just her imagination, but her heart was swooning. 

"Well, we do have our recruitment meeting, right?" she replied, knowing that's probably what he meant. She had learned her lesson on Monday. 

"Oh- oh right. I suppose so," Harry said, looking a little disappointed. He looked around pathetically at all his homework, and started gathering it up. "I'm not going to finish this now. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Harry hurried towards the boys' staircase, his nerve completely lost. 

"Wait!" Hermione called, and Harry stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly to see Hermione standing before him, clutching her books to her chest protectively. She moved a step closer and smiled timidly. "Good night," she murmured, and in a swift motion kissed Harry softly on the cheek and disappeared up the girls' staircase. 

"G'night," Harry called in delayed reaction, knowing she wouldn't hear him. He walked up the boys' staircase in daze. 

Hermione stood against the first curve of wall in the girls' staircase, biting her lip and smiling in secret triumph. 

---- --- -- - 

"Oh God," Lizzy moaned, gazing pitifully at her reflection in the mirror. Apparently her "secret product" had worn off and her hair proudly presented itself as a lion's mane. Lizzy's comb was caught in the fray, stuck in above her crown. Lavender and Parvarti were biting back giggles as they coordinated their outfits. 

"I guess you weren't lying then," Hermione said, feeling very grateful for her own shrub of hair this morning. Lizzy shook her head as she went to dig around in her trunk for something. 

"Where is it?" Lizzy asked urgently. "Oh- here it is." She produced a petite pink bottle of potion and sat back down at her vanity. Hermione picked up the potion and examined the label as Lizzy attempted to rescue her comb. 

"_Tyler's Travel-Size Temporary Tress Savior_," Hermione read, "_For The Girl Who Needs Serious Follicle Faith_." She laughed. "So this is your secret, I'm guessing?" Lizzy grinned and nodded. 

"This guy is a hair _genius_," Lizzy said as she took the bottle from Hermione. "It's funny 'cause the Muggles think he's just a folk singer with really good Elvis hair." Hermione giggled, but Lavender and Parvarti continued their fluffing, apparently unaware that there was such thing as The King of Rock n' Roll. 

"How does it work?" Hermione asked. Instead of answering, Lizzy carefully poured a nickel-sized drop of potion onto her palm and rubbed it between her hands. Then, with an air of a magician performing his greatest illusion, Lizzy raised her hands to her hair and started working the potion through. Instantly, her hair began to calm down and shrink into loose ringlets. Lizzy judged the effect in the mirror and, obviously deciding that it wasn't enough, ran her hands through her hair once more so that it was softly wavy. "Wow," Hermione whispered. "That stuff puts Sleekeazy's to shame." 

"And it lasts for about two weeks," Lizzy said cheerfully, then looked at her hands that were still slick with product. She looked up at Hermione, down at her hands, and back up at Hermione with a sly face. Hermione's eyes widened in horror. 

"No way, Lizzy. Don't even think about it. It's too much bother," Hermione pleaded firmly, backing away from her friend who was starting to look maniacal. 

"You know you want to. I'll only use a little. You know, soften out some of that frizz-" Lizzy was just getting up, but Lavender and Parvarti, whose dream was to see Hermione tortured with beauty products, had tackled Hermione. 

"What are you--for heaven's sake--gerroff me Lavender--Parvarti, really!" 

"C'mon guys, let her go," Lizzy said reasonably, and Lavender and Parvarti backed off reluctantly. "Hermione, I swear I'll only use a little bit. And if you don't like it, I have some antidote in my makeup case." Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Lizzy while she sat up and straightened out her blouse. Lizzy stared back with a straight face, saying silently that she would not let this go. Hermione sighed. 

"Fine," she said, defeated. "But only a little bit." Lavender and Parvarti squealed with glee and plopped onto Hermione's bed to get a good view. Lizzy carefully kneeled behind Hermione and smoothed out her hair once and paused to admire the effect. She ran her hands through Hermione's hair once more and gasped. 

"It's perfect, Hermione," she declared. The patient nervously approached the vanity and studied her reflection in the mirror. What she saw was completely unexpected. 

---- --- -- - 

"I'm starving," Ron moaned, rubbing his hand over his belly. He and Harry were slouching on the sofa in the common room, longing to go to breakfast. "What in the bleeding hell is taking them so long?" Harry shrugged. 

"Search me," he replied. "I'd ask Hermione, but she's up there as well." One of the many things Harry loved about Hermione is that she was very frank with him about the mysteries of women. He could tell that Ron desperately needed her advice at the moment; he sighed exasperatedly and glanced at his watch. What he saw must have nettled him because he sighed again as he slapped his wrist down on the couch. 

"Well," Harry said, fearing the food would be gone if he didn't leave now, "I'm off. See you-" Harry froze in mid-sentence, seeing feet appear just under the door frame to the stairs. Lavender and Parvarti descended the stairs and giggled at the looks on Ron and Harry's faces. 

"They're just coming down, you two," Lavender said, winking. Ron swallowed audibly while Harry forced his eyes to look anywhere but the girls' staircase. He tried to mentally shake himself, thinking that this was absurd; there was no date for him. But, there he was, dreadfully apprehensive for some unknown reason. That tiny little insignificant kiss had him reeling and he had no idea how to act around Hermione now. 

There was no time to contemplate it any longer, though, because just then Lizzy and Hermione descended the stairs, causing Ron to leap up from the couch. Lizzy smiled as Ron held out his arm in a surprisingly calm manner. She took it and they climbed out the portrait hole, leaving Harry and Hermione awkwardly looking at each other in the common room. 

"Hmm," Harry said, studying Hermione's hair. 

"What?" she replied quickly. Harry shook his head. 

"Sleekeazy's?" he asked knowingly. Hermione touched her hair and smiled weakly. 

"Oh no- it's something Lizzy has. Works well doesn't it?" Harry nodded, smirking profoundly. Hermione bit her lip. "It looks stupid, doesn't it?" He shook his head quickly, eyeing her shimmering ringlets. 

"No- it's just…different, that's all," Harry said reassuringly. "So…shall we?" 

---- --- -- - 

Harry and Hermione stewed in a kind of awkward silence that had becoming increasingly common this term as they ambled towards the Great Hall and breakfast. Hermione searched desperately for something to say; she tried to remember what they used to talk so easily about and came up with nothing. Harry cleared his throat and glanced out the window, avoiding Hermione's gaze. The sound made Hermione's mind jump to something she never talked about: Quidditch. Before she could stop herself, Hermione said, "How's Quidditch practice going?" 

Harry looked quickly over at her, stammering, "Oh- it's..it's going good." 

"That's good," she replied swiftly, nodding. There was a prolonged pause. "And Katie?" Hermione asked at length. "How is she doing as captain?" 

"Rather good," Harry said, shrugging. "She's good the maniacal Wood attitude down pat. I don't know how it happens, but his spirit is being passed down through the captains." Hermione smiled, feeling too awkward to laugh. She was trying her best to control her expressions for sanity's sake. 

"How's Ron holding up?" Hermione continued to prod, amazed that this subject was the one to break the ice. Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned ironically. 

"Better. The Slytherins haven't been coming round as often as they used to. You know, once he gets rid of his nerves, he's rather pro." Hermione smiled again. 

"That's good," she said again, and meant it. "At least he'll have that if he bombs today." Harry's eyes widened incredulously. 

"Hermione!" he scolded, shocked. "I happen to have complete faith in him." 

"Really?" Hermione replied, curiously gazing at him. Harry nodded, but broke into laughter under her stare. 

"Well, maybe we should trail them just in case." They stopped at the Great Hall's doors, and looked along the Gryffindor table for their charges. Ron and Lizzy were sitting toward the center of the table, talking together and laughing. Hermione smiled softly at the couple while Harry watched her. "You know," he confessed quietly, maybe hoping she wouldn't hear. "You look beautiful, but I think I like the way your hair usually is." 

Hermione looked down and had the grace to blush at his admission. 

---- --- -- - 

Ron mentally smacked himself in the forehead. Repeatedly. He had been told before that he was a clumsy thick moron of a git who couldn't get a girl to save his life, but he didn't think it was this serious. Suffice it to say, his date wasn't going the way he had hoped. 

It took a spectacular trip and tumble down the sloping lawns, a misplaced sample of cockroach clusters, and several Malfoy "encounters" to convince Ron that his first date was to be his last. As he and Lizzy strolled down the main hub of Hogsmeade, he chanced a glance over at her. Lizzy was looking around at shop windows with a slightly amused look on her face, which Ron took as a sign that she was enjoyed his mistrials very much and would probably retell them to a horrified group of the girls Ron would have to face everyday for the rest of the school year. 

Lizzy caught Ron looking at her and flashed a grin. It was indeed amusing to watch this awkward boy stumble through their date, which she did realize was his first without being told. But, the effort was there, and that's what mattered to her. It was also very interesting exploring the village with such a seasoned expert. They'd been to every decent shop in town -Zonko's twice- and his tour guide skills were impeccable, even if his walking skills weren't. She laughed to herself, remember his early fumble before they had even reached the Hogwarts gates. 

Ron noticed her mirth and his ears shot up in a vibrant crimson. "What?" he asked, unnerved. Lizzy chuckled and shook her head. 

"Nothing. I…" she trailed off at the discouraged look on Ron's face. "Nevermind." She sighed and looked awkwardly around for some kind of subject change. Her eyes fell on a store they hadn't been too. It was strange too because there was quite a crowd of students trying to enter. "Hey," Lizzy said, pointing, "Let's go in there." 

Ron looked where she was pointing and paled. It couldn't be- it was. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Hogsmeade Branch. Fred and George has been joking over the summer that they had enough profit to expand to two shops, but Ron didn't think they'd actually do it. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse… 

Lizzy tugged on Ron's sweater sleeve, attempting to pull him out of his daze. "C'mon," she said with a look of confusion on her face, "Let's go." 

"Um-" Ron said suddenly, "Let's not. We could go to the Three Broomsticks instead…" Lizzy pouted at him, a look he had discovered she tuck safely away for desperate situations like this. 

"C'mon," she said again, "What's so-" Lizzy looked back and now noticed the name of the shop. "Wait- does- does someone in your family own this shop?" Ron nodded slowly, trying not to wince. 

"My brothers…" Ron mumbled, reluctantly letting Lizzy pull him towards the shop. 

"You have brothers?" she said, surprised. 

"Yeah…five…" 

"_Five?_" Lizzy exclaimed, her brows raised. "They don't _all_ own this shop, do they?" She smirked slightly at Ron's crimson face. 

"No, no," he replied hastily, "Only two of them. They're twins…and you know, you don't have to meet them now…if you don't want-" 

"What are you blathering about, Ronnikins? No one in their right mind wouldn't want to meet us!" came a familiar voice. Ron turned wearily to see Fred, standing in the doorway of his shop and grinning at him. Fred caught sight of Lizzy and let out a low whistle. "And who do we have here?" he asked, offering his hand. 

Lizzy laughed and said, "I'm Lizzy." Fred took her out-stretched hand and bent down to kiss it with a flourish, only to be roughly pushed aside by someone who looked surprisingly like him. 

"'Allo, love," he said smoothly, "George Weasley at your service." He kissed her hand slowly and Fred cleared his throat. "Oh, and this is Fred," he added offhandedly. 

"Nice way to treat your business partner, George," Fred reprimanded, crossing his arms over his chest. Ron became very interested in a spot of dried mud on the steps of the Weasley establishment, sensing a Fred-and-George routine coming on. 

"Only trying to protect my self interest, Fred. Not every girl likes the twin act, you know." 

"But we play it well, don't we, George?" 

"Yes we do and- hold on, are you on a date with our dear younger brother?" Ron studied the mud spot more intently, half-heartedly scraping at it with his sneaker. Lizzy gave an embarrassed chuckle. 

"Yeah, I am," she said, putting her hand on Ron's arm and causing him to look at her in horror. Fred and George's faces broke into identical evil grins. 

"Well, well," George said with obvious satisfaction, folding his arms also, "Little Ronnikins is on his first date?" Ron flushed harder, gently trying to pry Lizzy's hand off his arm. 

"Yes," Lizzy replied, unwavering, "He's giving me a tour of Hogsmeade." 

"But no tour is complete without a little stroll around Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!" Fred said, ushering her inside. "So what's the deal, are you a prankster? Or are you just looking for some Skiving Snackboxes to get you out of class?" 

"There's Pucking Pastels and Nose-bleed Nougats, Fever Fudge and Fainting Fancies…" George added, pointing, "Whatever you need, we've got it." 

"Thanks," Ron said, finally finding his voice. "I think we'll just look around if you don't mind." 

"Oh sure," Fred said, "It's your _date_." 

"Can't wait to tell mum, Ronny-poo." George added and they disappeared into the crowd, guffawing. 

"Kill 'em," Ron muttered, and not for the first time that year. 

"Is this really your first date?" Lizzy asked incredulously. Ron nodded miserably. Lizzy flashed him a small smile. "It's mine too," she said softly, turning to a display of Skiving Snackboxes. Ron blushed, pleasantly surprised. A small hope blossomed in his chest. 

Maybe his first date wasn't going to turn out as bad as he had thought. 

…to be continued. 

**Post note/credits: This chapter took me effing forever! A date with Ron is hard to write…I need to develop Lizzy…bah. **

Harry and the Potters are awesome. And so is their song, "Fred And George." go here: http/ It's wizarding rock at its best. And Fred and George were rocking their own song during the last scene. 

If you got the joke, or maybe not, Tyler of Tyler's Travel-Size Temporary Tress Savior is Tyler Hilton! Yay! His hair is REALLY big! 


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